The present disclosure is generally related to telecommunications and more particularly to the integration of interactive voice response systems and web browsers.
The telecommunications industry has undergone rapid changes in the past several years. With the development of the advanced intelligent network (AIN), telephone companies are poised to offer a multitude of new services to subscribers. One service that many telephone service providers now offer is a call center, which can be facilitated by the AIN. One example of an AIN is further described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,701,301 and 5,838,774, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The call center can comprise an interactive voice response (IVR) system that interacts with a calling party over the telephone network through dualtone multi-frequency (DTMF) of DTMF signaling in the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
IVR systems in particular have allowed telephone service providers to efficiently host call centers for business customers. An IVR system may be used to dispense or collect information from callers, including pre-classifying calls, thus allowing service representatives to specialize in particular areas, cutting down on the need for live knowledgeable receptionists to receive calls and route them correctly. Alternatively, the entire call may take place over the IVR system, without the need for interaction with a service representative.
However, though these IVR systems may improve efficiency for the employees of the service provider, these systems are often the subject of much frustration with a calling party who may become stranded or confused in the IVR system. The user may not know how to return to the previous menu after choosing the wrong menu, or the user may not know how to replay a menu after missing a choice. Moreover, the voice menu may seem endless to the calling party because the calling party has no idea at what point he or she will reach a service representative or accomplish the intended objective.
Therefore, there is a need for systems and method that address these and/or other perceived shortcomings of the prior art.